Sarah lived on a farm with her family. She was 1 to learn to track, to identify each person and where they were going by the marks they left on the ground. And if her father couldn't teach her, she'd teach herself.

    To the2of her family, she borrowed all their 3 and taught herself to recognize everyone's footprints in the sand. More than once her father came outside shouting, “Sarah, bring me 4 my boots. ”

    Sarah developed the habit of walking around with her eyes fixed on the ground, 5 the comings and goings of every 6in the place.

    She also developed the annoying habit of 7 everyone. What were you doing down at the dam, Jack? You're not 8to play there. ” “Did you find what you were 9 in the garage, Auntie?” and “Who was the stranger visiting today wearing size ten boots, Mum?”

    After she'd 10 every pair of shoes that everyone 11, she turned to the farm's animals. By this time 12 her victims had to admit, 13, that she was good.

    Her best 14came one evening when she said the horse's front foot was 15. Her father said that the horse was 16 fine. Sarah 17 that its hoof (蹄）had a split. Sarah's father 18 the horse's hoof.

    “You're 19. The hoof is split. How did you know?”

    “You can see it in its 20. " Sarah moved the horse away. “Look, it's plain in the sand. "

    “If you can tell it has a split hoof from that sand, you're pretty good,” said her father.

    I wasn't prepared for the way I felt when my 18-year-old son, Dylan, left for Asia during his winter break.

    I was 1 the moment he first told my husband Michael and me that he wanted to use some of his 2 to travel around China. We were excited for him to explore the world. We told him that3 was one of the best ways to spend his money and the 4 will last a lifetime.

    On the morning of Dylan's departure, he5 a few more things into his bag. Before he and Michael 6to the airport, I yelled, “Be safe, and 7 when you arrive in Shanghai.”

    That night 8 he was flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, it hit me that Dylan was really on his9I woke hourly, each time 10the clock and counting the hours before he would land the following morning.11 my decision to let him go alone, I prayed，and thought about all the things that could go 12 Then I heard from him. The first text said he'd arrived. The second text said his luggage didn't 13 it.

    Feeling anxious, I madly attempted to 14 down his luggage. To search for lost baggage, I persuaded him to go back to the 15 and suggested he go to the airline's office. My efforts 16 All the while Dylan was texting me he was all right.

    After that, there was no more 17 about lost luggage. I knew that he'd figure it out, and that the life lessons would be18.

    Several days into the trip, Dylan sent a photo from Hong Kong. “I thought I could never study abroad anywhere but Europe19 I could definitely do it here.” his note read.

    And I was 20

    Joe Biggs was a butcher. His shop was in a village in the beautiful south of England, and he 1 in it for many years while his father was there. Then when his father reached the age of 65, he stopped working in the shop, and Joe was alone in it, so he had to work2.

    Joe worked five and a half days a week. His shop3at one o'clock on Thursday, and it was closed the whole of Sunday. Saturdays were the4 days.

    Most of Joe's 5 came to his shop from the nearest town, but sometimes he got up earlier than usual in the morning and 6 into the city to choose meat. It was7 there.

    Joe had a big8 in his shop, but he tried not to buy too 9 meat at a time, and to 10 it before he bought more.

    One 11 a woman came into the shop at five minutes to one. “Sorry I'm late,” she said, “but some friends have just telephoned to say that they are coming to 12 tonight, and I need more 13.

Joe only had one piece of meat in the shop. He had sold all the others 14 in the day. He took the piece15 and said to the woman, “This is 6.5 pounds.”

    “That piece is too16 the woman said. “Haven't you got anything bigger?”

    Joe went17the room behind his shop, opened the refrigerator, put the piece of meat into it, took it out18 and shut the door of the refrigerator 19 then he brought the piece of meat back to the woman and said, “This piece is bigger and more expensive. It's 8.75 pounds.”

    “Good,” the woman answered with a smile, “give me20 of them, please.”

    Cheques have largely replaced money as a means of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere. Though this is very 1 for both buyers and sellers, it should not be forgotten that cheques are not real money: They are quite 2 in themselves. A shopkeeper always faces a certain 3 when he accepts a cheque and he is quite within his rights if, on occasion, he 4 to do so.

    People don't always 5 this and are shocked if their good 6 is called into question. An old and very wealthy friend of mine told me that he had ever had an extremely 7 experience. He went to a famous jewelry shop which kept a large stock of precious stones and asked to see some necklaces. After examining carefully, he 8 to buy a particularly fine diamond necklace and asked if he could pay by cheque. The assistant said that this was quite in order, but the moment my friend 9 his name, he was invited into the manager's office.

    The manager was polite, and he explained that someone with exactly the same name had 10 them with a worthless cheque not long ago. My friend got very 11 when he heard this and said that he would buy a 12 somewhere else. When he got up to leave, the manager told him that the police would arrive at any moment and that he had better stay there 13 he wanted to get into serious trouble. Sure enough, the police arrived soon afterwards. They politely 14 to my friend for the inconvenience, but explained that a person who had used the same name as his was 15 for a number of recent robberies. Then the police asked my friend to 16 a note which had been used by the thief in several shops. The note read: "I have a gun in my pocket. Ask 17 questions and give me all the money in the safe." 18, my friend's handwriting was quite unlike the thief's. He was not only 19 to go without further 20, but to take the diamond necklace with him.

    Any form of speech can be challenging, particularly if you are not used to talking in front of an audience. I am very 1 that I have been doing presentations and 2 training programs for many years, 3 I have got used to the nervousness that always appears inside before I speak. The nervousness is always a(n) 4 thing for me as it allows me to channel my energy into what I want to say.

    Just recently I had the pleasure of 5 at a conference about the key success factors (因素) in business and as usual in the days before my presentation I spent a lot of time 6 what I wanted to cover, as well as 7 the content.

    I have always 8 the level of success of my presentations by the applause (掌声) and 9 that I receive from the audience. After the applause ended I had the 10 to personally speak to nearly all of the delegates (代表). The last delegate I spoke with 11 me by taking my hand, shaking it and saying how much she 12 my presentation, and that she had got a lot of 13 tips to use in her business. Usually I feel 14 after any presentation, and I know it is directly related to how much energy I put into what I do. 15, this time her praise gave me a great lift and recharged my batteries.

    This 16 at the end of my presentation also made me realize that what we 17 in life can come back to us and 18, we all need to value the praise when and where it is deserved. As I drove away from the 19 I reflected on how fortunate I had been to receive all those words of praise and 20 that morning.

    Cheating often happens in our city. It can be hard to know who is really in 1 and who is trying to take advantage of other people's 2.

    Recently, I was finishing my work at home 3 the dog barked, letting me know that 4 was at the gate. I rushed to see who it was and there I saw a 5 weak woman in her late fifties.

I said to her, "May I ask what you 6?"

    She 7, "Hello, my name is Parvathy. My husband and I live nearby. We earn our living 8 working at construction sites. A few days ago my 9 fell off the stairs while 10 a heavy load. He is 11 hurt and hasn't been able to 12 for the past five days, so we have no food. Now he is in bed with a high fever. Please help me! I need to take my husband to a doctor!"

    "Oh!" I said. "Please 13 here." I went into the room. I felt really bad about her 14 but ...Was she telling me the 15 or trying to cheat money?

    Finally, I 16 to help her. But first I said a simple prayer, "Dear Lord, you know 17 I earn my pennies, so please make sure that my hard-earned money helps those who 18 need it."

    I went out with a fifty note and 19 it to her. The moment she got the money she broke down in tears. She took my hand and said, "Thank you so much!"

    I was so 20, and left.